


A Year in Eclipse

by Borgupine



Category: Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Child Loss, Childhood Trauma, F/F, Loss of Innocence, Love, One Shot, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24372493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Borgupine/pseuds/Borgupine
Summary: A year into their relationship, Seven and Raffi talk about Icheb.
Relationships: Raffi Musiker/Seven of Nine
Comments: 11
Kudos: 42





	A Year in Eclipse

“Tell me about Icheb,” Raffi said, pitching her voice somewhere nonchalant, like a shrug.

Whether attuned to Raffi’s tells, quirks and movements, or still a quick study in human behaviour, Seven wasn’t sure, but there was no mistaking the hint of hunger to her words. And the vulnerable longing.

Seven said nothing, just wore what Raffi called her ‘thinking face’ when she tossed around a problem inside her head.

She turned to peer over her bare shoulder. Raffi carried none of her vulnerabilities in her body. She was easy in her nakedness, comfortable with every stretch mark and mole, stray hair and scar. All of it forming a complex geometry, as if Seven stared at a star chart.

“Come on,” Raffi said and took another pull on her vape pen. The thick exhale hovered for only a moment before it disappeared. “I told you all about my kid and what a clusterfuck I made of that whole situation. Want a drag?”

Seven shook her head. It only interfered with her cortical implant anyway.

“Suit yourself.” Her whole head was wreathed in a dense fog like half a hundred planets Seven had seen. Raffi could have been a planet unto herself, requiring surveys, tests and discovery.

They’d been drawn to one another, somehow, after the stress of everything with the Romulans, Picard and the AIs. The courtship itself had been slow, bit by bit as they figured out the shape of the future and if there was a future for them together. Turns out there was.

Raffi leant back, her coils of hair like bronze and copper filigree hung all around her head and shoulders. Her eyes, soft and golden brown, were intense as much with their suspicions as their kindness. Such depth they held. Even now, almost a year since those first few times, Seven still had to look away.

“It’s not the same,” she said, a steel edge to her voice. Softer, she added, “I know it’s not been easy trying to get back in touch with your son, but he’s… Icheb wasn’t a son, he was—”

“Sure sounds like a son, from the little bits you’ve actually told me. Hell, sounds like you were more of a mother to the kid than I was to mine.” Raffi turned slightly, fixing her gaze on the wall and rolling the vape pen between her hands.

“I see your point,” Seven said softly. She placed a hand on Raffi’s knee. She flinched a moment and relaxed her leg, letting Seven slide her hand up her thigh to her waist.

There, Seven moved to fix the shape of her body to Raffi’s back. Spooning, Chakotay had called it, but that was a whole lifetime ago, it felt like. Back when the universe still felt so big and new. Back when love and lust and all of it felt fresh.

“It never felt that way at the time,” Seven said, quiet now her lips almost brushed Raffi’s ear. “He felt more like a little brother. I thought myself so far advanced, so grown up. We weren’t so different, not really. I look back on it all now and realise how young I was. How naïve."

“You _were_ young,” Raffi said. “Basically a kid, right? The Borg had you all those years, then you’re suddenly human again and not knowing shit about what that even means. Bad enough what JL went through, but to have your whole adolescence taken away like that.”

Seven planted a soft lingering kiss on Raffi’s shoulder. Raffi just understood people in a way that Seven was still trying to get a grip on. The shape of things were clearer, sure, and she’d seen the real inner workings of the galaxy, but there was Raffi seeing everything with a single pass.

“You’re right,” she said. “It was only years later when I found out he’d been captured that he felt like a son.”

“And you felt like a mother?” Seven nodded. “That’ll bring out the mama bear in you. Nothing stronger than a mother in this whole wide universe.”

“I wasn’t strong enough.”

A sudden movement as Raffi tossed her vape pen. It hit the wall with a clink and rolled out of sight. She turned, putting them face to face, so close their noses almost touched, and every breath was shared.

“Listen to me,” she said and cupped Seven’s face. “You were strong in a way that people should feel lucky they never have to be. Strong enough to end his suffering and let him go.” She didn’t wipe away the tear crawling down her cheek, just left it to the pillow.

“He…” Seven began and faltered. For a long moment, she simply found her own reflection in Raffi’s eyes. “He deserved so much better.”

“You both did. But that’s not how it went. That’s why you need to celebrate what you had. Remember the good times, keep him alive up here—” she tapped Seven’s temple and then placed her palm to her chest “—and here.”

Seven closed the tiny space between them, bringing their lips together. She turned onto her back and put her arm around Raffi when she rested her head on her chest.

“I’ll tell you about Icheb,” Seven said and managed a small smile.

**Author's Note:**

> As a huge Seven of Nine fan, I was delighted that her queerness is now - finally! - canon. I can't wait to see Picard lean deeper into this. However, I was deeply troubled and upset by how Icheb was treated in the first season. Here I come to terms with that in a story I hope is as positive on Picard as it is negative. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
